Unexpected
by gothgirlstrikesagain
Summary: The unexpected can and will happen when you least suspect it, it can be joyous or tragedy but overall… it can leave even the most brilliant minds speechless. As Crane makes a meeting with some clients Batman shows up and leaves Crane with Batman wannabes and a mysterious child appears before him, a discovery will make Crane change as he never would have suspected. One-shot


**I was writing the third chapter for stood to close to the fire and this little idea came into my head, i've got to stop getting myself too distracted...hey look! Another one-shot idea -_-**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters except my OC all the rest belong to DC Comics or their rightful owners.**

Dr Jonathan Crane waited inside the white van, mask in place, his henchmen eagerly waiting to fire their pathetic yet treacherous guns. Crane was more than 'thrilled' when his buyers decided they needed a meeting over his merchandise, admittedly, he should have warned them about the side effects but that would mean the disgusting junkies would still be alive and poisoning the city with their imbecilic minds. Dr Jonathan Crane was doing the city a favour, it was a riddle why nobody understood that, he should ask Edward Nigma once this exhausting meeting was done, he did love his riddles. The sound of squealing tyres was enough to make the master of fear tense, the sound made his teeth grind and if not for his henchmen, he would have growled in irritation. A henchman gave Crane a look, which Crane nodded stiffly, the van's doors were pushed open and the henchmen climbed out onto the concrete, guns at the ready, how predictable. The sound of someone crying for help made a malicious smile appear on the doctor's face, hidden of course by his burlap mask. Still hidden inside the van Crane could here others exiting a vehicle and the sound of commands were the first words spoken in the intelligent meeting. The sound of barking dogs makes Dr Crane's irritation bar go even higher, curse those animals, after waking up in a gutter with your face burning like hell it isn't the finest thing when a rather large German Shepard is growling at you. Even more so that it chases you for twenty blocks, Dr Crane doesn't what that predicament to happen again anytime soon.

'That's why we bring dogs, my little pouches.' Crane admires the idiocy that is the mobster, if he expects the mongrel monsters to stop The _Batman_ he is clearly mistaken.

'Look what your drugs did to my customers.' Crane begins his exit out of the van, noting the tone in the mobster's voice.

'Buyer beware, I told you my compound would take you places. But I never said they'd be places you wanted to go.'

'My business, repeat customers.' His voice his high and irritating, Crane wants this meeting over as soon as he can make it even if it means no more drugs to this set of clients.

'You don't like what I have to offer you can buy from someone else, assuming Batman left anyone to buy from.' Both of the beasts bark in unison, signalling a certain foe is lurking. Crane looks around, noting his nervousness, fear is astounding no matter if you're the one that's feeling it's symptoms. The mobster is slightly shaken but quickly hides his fear, he feels safe around his beasts, Crane knows the mobster has never faced The Batman and smirks at the man's cockiness.

'My dogs are hungray! Pity there's only one of you.' Crane looks to where the mobster is looking, the shadowy figure of a certain man-sized bat waits at the car park's many ledges. Something isn't right, Crane knows Batman's tactics and it isn't to wait. A surprised shout echoes from the back of the white van, then at one of the other ledges, they are surrounded by  
many bat_men_. The Batman at the ledge reveals a shot gun and shoots at the mobster's car, smashing the sleek glass, the meeting is quickly over as the men scramble into their vehicles to hide from the Batmen, Crane stumbles backwards to close the van's large doors.

'That's not him.' The Batmen continue to fire, mostly aiming at the mobsters, the mobsters retaliate and fire with their on pathetic guns.

'Loose the dogs!' The barking is louder and paws' scratching against stone is heard. As the battle continues, Crane ducks the bullets as they pummel into the white van's metal body, the cold metal of a gun presses against his back. With light speed moves, Crane showers the fake Batman with toxin from a compartment in his sleeve, just as he admires his handiwork the sound of crumbling rock and a rev of an engine makes the doctor look up. He chuckles inside his mask; fear makes his heartbeat faster as the sight of the real Batman's monstrosity breaks through the brick ledge, flattening some unlucky cars in the progress.

'That's more like it.' The mobster's henchmen fire wildly at the vehicle, sometimes Crane wishes there were better, more intelligent minds in the business. The monstrosity stops and becomes silent from its previous roar; again, Crane knows something isn't right. The mobsters edge themselves towards the vehicle, only to crouch on the ground as the vehicle fires at them. The car park is alive with the colour of orange and fallen debris scatters amongst the mobsters.

Crane watches from the safety of his van as the cocky mobster disappears inside his car and begins to exit the car park, his henchmen like the sheep they are follow his move and run to their cars that are hidden by the eye watering smoke. Crane starts the van as The Batman makes short work of the few remaining henchmen that are too idiotic or daring to challenge the bat. Amongst these henchmen, a young child watches the Batman fight, taking in his tactics and fighting style. Crane doesn't pay much attention to the child, thinking more about escaping then why a child would be attending such a dangerous activity. If he had thought about it first, he would have noticed that the child wasn't _scared_, not even a flinch as they watched the Batman take down the henchmen with ease.

Crane turned the wheel and was knocked about inside the driver's seat as something heavy was attached to the van; The Batman gripped the van as best he could as it sped through the car park towards the exit, a sound much like a chain saw was ringing in Crane's ears. He looked out the window briefly and saw the Batman had crashed into a perfectly placed wall. The van squealed as it made its decent down into the abyss of the car park, Crane felt his heartbeat against his ribs, he didn't feel safe until he was halfway across Gotham. He began to think of the child as he neared the exit, they had been so calm and analysed _him _once he had stepped out of the van and then again with the Batman. Who were they and why they weren't sca- Everything when dark as a heavy force crashed through the van's window.

Crane squinted as the harsh light burned his eyes, sweat dripped from his face and his hair felt matted against his skin. A melancholy Batman stared at him, Crane couldn't help but smirk, fear was eating at his brain as he saw his enemy before him. He stared at him as he turned to the fake Batman on his right.

'Don't let me find you out here again.' There was that deep voice, how could people find that frightening, it just amused Crane more than anything else did, it ruined the Batman's fear.

'We're trying to help you.'

'I don't need help!'

'Not my diagnosis.' Crane watches the Batman climb back into his monstrosity; half-wishing he could make the fake Batman beside him scream because of his irritating voice.

'What gives you the right? what's the difference between you and me?'

'I'm not wearing hockey pads.' The Batman disappears into his vehicle and drives away, leaving Crane with the annoying Batmen and an agonising headache, balancing his head on the ledge behind him Crane closes his eyes. The cops would be here soon, take him back to Arkham Asylum and he would have to hear how much he disgraced the asylum, what fun was waiting for him. The tapping of small feet as they walked towards the cuffed men made most of the men hopeful of escape, except Crane who kept his eyes closed.

'If you don't mind me saying Dr Crane, I expected more from the terrifying Scarecrow.' The intelligent voice made Crane's eyes open slowly, the child that he had spotted with the mobsters was sitting crossed legged in front of him, tight lips with no indication of a smile was shown on her face. Mousy brown hair that turned into curls at her tips rested on her fragile shoulders, amber eyes full of curiosity stared at him blankly behind rectangle glasses much like his own that were hidden in his chest pocket. The child wore a sleeveless yellow blouse under a yellow cardigan that she had buttoned up halfway, a denim skirt that would have come to her kneecaps if she was standing with greying sneakers. The braveness of the child was astounding, after his rampage on Gotham , most of the children he encountered would either start crying or run screaming for their parents, this child showed no indication of doing either. Crane chuckled as the girl removed her glasses to rub her eyes then replaced them on her nose once again but supressed a yawn, obviously she was tired.

'Shouldn't you be in bed child?'

'Shouldn't you be on the other side of Gotham by now?' Her quickness only made Crane even more curious about this child, no fear and no sign of guardians to take care of her, this child was a mystery.

'You are not The Riddler's daughter by any chance child?' The girl creased her rather bushy eyebrows and crossed her arms against her chest.

'I wouldn't go near that obsessive with a ten meter poking stick, so no, I'm not his daughter. I would love to explain who my biological parents are but that is not the job I was sent to fulfil, I guess I can tell you why I'm here, you're not exactly going anywhere except the nuthouse. I was sent to watch and learn The _Batman's_ tactics and his fighting style; I was also here to see you as it happens.' The girl only looked about ten at the most and she was speaking like an eighteen year old A* student, she reminded Crane of himself.

The fact she was here to watch the Batman's tactics and was sent to see him was rather odd, why would someone send a child to see The Scarecrow? The girl answered his inward questions as she continued to amaze him, which was a rare thing from him. 'If you are wondering why I was sent here, it is because of my brother. He has this thing about The Batman after he stopped him from fulfilling his work, he wants to take revenge even if he doesn't know it, I, however don't want to be part of it. For you see Dr Crane, I see it as a waste of valuable time, I admit my brother is obsessed with the Batman and dragged me into his obsession but in the end the Batman will always have the upper hand as it were. He's one of those things that you try to stomp out but it just crawls back up the shoe, it never goes away and if it does it just returns more determined than before. Now you on the other hand, you had everything, good money and a good life but you turn to insanity because _you_ are obsessed by fear. At the moment, I believe every criminal turns to crime because of some type of obsession. I read your work about fear and was amazed by how much you knew and your theories, most I agreed with but a few I'm not quite sure.' Crane chuckles once again at the girl's intelligence, he was proud at her use of words towards his life's work and saw this as an opportunity; if he could somehow convince the girl to let him, go then he could get on with his work.

'Was that meeting part of your imagination or was it just chance that the Batman showed up?' The girl shrugs her small shoulders.

'Bit of both really, I did suggest tonight to the imbeciles but I didn't know whether you or the Batman would come. I was just expecting one of you; you could say tonight was hitting two birds with one stone… or two flying animals.' Crane lets his head rest against the wall, the sweat was beginning to make him feel unkept, and the girl just stared taking in Crane's appearance from his dazzling eyes to his matted brown hair.

'After everything my father said about you, you look like a lost child.'

'That isn't particularly correct; _you're_ the one that looks like a lost child.'

'That is where you're wrong Dr Crane, I have been found, by the person that I wanted to find me.' Crane lifts his head to stare at the girl once more and sees a flicker of sadness behind her amber eyes. Something was gripped in her fragile hands; it looked like a canister of some kind, her hands fiddled with it as she spoke.

'Tonight I was supposed to meet my brother; unfortunately I don't think I'll get to see him.'

'If, you let me out of these infernal cuffs… I could help you find him. I'm sure he isn't too far, I wouldn't want a young girl like yourself walking through the streets of Gotham…Unsupervised.'

'I'm not an idiot Dr Crane; I know you'll just spray me with that toxin of yours the second I let you go. You are right though, my brother isn't too far, in fact, he is closer than you think.' Crane looked at the girl with wide eyes; she wore a smirk, the first change in her childish features. He was utterly speechless, this child had come after _him_ and now she was saying she was looking for her_ brother_.

'What…how…What!?'

'Well, I was looking for my step-brother, and you fit the description I was given so I guess you're my brother. I'm not too thrilled to know that The Scarecrow is my brother, but it's better than one of these Batman wannabes.' She cocked her head to the other men around him, all wore speechless expressions but none could match Crane's. She stood and swayed slightly from the change, the canister shone in her hands, police sirens were approaching but the girl didn't move, instead she closed her eyes. Just as the sound of slamming doors echoed around the car park, the girl began to cry, Crane could see the trickle of tears fall down her face. What the hell was she doing?

'What the… Hey there little girl, it's ok. There's no need to cry, come on now, did these bad men do something to you. Uh, C-Crane w-hat did you do t-to the girl?' The officer stumbled over his words as he saw Crane was tied up with the rest of the 'bad men', the girl was crying into the officer's uniform, Crane just stared at the girl as he spoke with forced normality.

'I didn't lay a finger on her; she just started crying for no reason.'

'Yeah, and I'm Santa Claus. You're going back to the nuthouse Crane, where you belong.' Crane sighed, this whole thing was a set up by the girl, she probably wasn't his sister, maybe a little actress hired by Maroni. The girl quickly pulled away from the officer and gave him two giant puppy dog eyes; Crane could see the canister hidden behind her back.

'Y-you're not g-going to take my b-brother away are you o-officer?'

'Erm, Crane's your bro- NO! KEEP THE SPIDERS AWAY FROM ME!' Crane watched the officer writhe on the floor; the girl had sprayed the canister right into the officer's face, her eyes lit up for a second once she saw the man crying out. She shook the canister then proceeded to drop it on the floor, her eyes rested on Crane who watched her with another speechless face.

'Now I see why you enjoy it so much, even if you say it's just for 'research'. So, if I'm correct we have ten minutes before the police figure out we're here, oh and by the way, my name is Seraphine Crane.' She walked over to the fallen officer and grabbed some cuff keys from his belt, she dodged his attempts to attack her and tiptoed over to Crane who was having too many speechless moments tonight, she gave him a look then began to fit each key into the lock. There were too many keys, it would take a while to find the right one, Crane just stared at her face and saw for the first time how much similarities they had. Her hair was a deep brown much like his own, she was tall for her age and her eyes calculated each dilemma (key) with complete concentration. The way she had analysed the Batman and himself was too similar to the way he used to back in his psychiatrist days, she didn't speak as she concentrated but he could see questions were inside her genius mind.

'How? How did you find me?'

'Well, when you terrorised Gotham your name was all over the news so it wasn't too difficult. Dad had told me about you while I was growing up, not necessarily nice things but it was enough to find you. When he…moved on, I went looking for you, normally places where you could find clients, soon enough I found these idiots and I gave them what they wanted, they lead me to you and here we are. Dad if you didn't know, he lived in Gotham after he ran away from your mother, he became a wreck of a man and found himself in debt to Carmine Falcone. That wasn't the only thing he got into trouble for, he got exceptionally close to Falcone's 'girlfriend' and I was born nine months after. She dumped me on him and he took me to grow up in the Narrows, as he couldn't afford to escape Gotham. It wasn't long before Falcone came knocking, dad hid me in the closet, a few gun shots and dad was dead. I kind of had a breakdown when I saw him lying in his own pool of blood and burned the apartment; I later vowed to kill Falcone.' The click of cuffs unlocking was heard and Seraphine stepped backwards to give Crane space to stand up, he rubbed his raw wrists and stood to show how much he towered over his sister. The Batmen tried to break free of their cuffs to stop him but none succeeded, they gave him sour looks through their pathetic excuse for masks. Crane walked over to the still screaming officer, smirk in place as the man clawed at his already red face.

'They scream and they cry. I think it's about time we left Seraphine; it would be simpler if you let me call you Sera.' Seraphine crossed her arms and huffed at the shortened name.

'Do you like it when people shorten your name to Jon?'

'Not…entirely.'

'Well then, don't call me Sera, it is the name my father gave me and it's the one I'll stick to.' Crane gave a scowl at Seraphine but she didn't budge and her arms stayed crossed, he lost the staring competition and let a hand loosen so she could take it. Her amber eyes skimmed to the outstretched hand then back at his dishevelled face, her arms still crossed though they were beginning to become limp.

'I'm not five years old Dr Crane.'

'It is so I don't lose you if the police decide to corner us, now come on before I lose my already strained patience.'

'What are you going to do, ground me? You may frighten the whole of Gotham but you're just a failed psychiatrist to me.'

'Yes and I am your older brother so do as I say!' The word 'brother' was foreign on his tongue, even more so was the command that held too much anger, Seraphine didn't seem overly fazed but took his hand without further asking. They began to walk out of the car park, well, Crane kept a fast pace while Seraphine jogged behind him. The Batmen were still tied up against the ledge and watched the two walk away, powerless they began to shout out random things to slow them down.

'The Batman will come after you and your accomplice, he will take her away and you'll be locked up in Arkham Asylum!' Crane just makes his pace faster and Seraphine is close to running to keep up with him.

'Tell me something I don't know.' Crane mumbles under his breathe and Seraphine just smirks.

'You didn't know I was your sister until a few minutes ago AND you didn't know you would be dragging an eleven year old out of this car park without a van.' Crane gives a slide glance to Seraphine who is already beginning to pant as they reach the exit of the car park and head out to the streets of Gotham; they keep to the alleyways and head to the outskirts. Crane keeps a firm grip on Seraphine's hand as they enter the Narrows, after a few minor stops and Crane becomes too irritated and picks a drowsy Seraphine who rests her head against his shoulder. He grunts under her weight and takes long strides towards his hideout; she wriggles to get comfortable as he leans against a wall. She doesn't protest as he jolts her to get a better grip, rats take their time to get in the way of his feet as he steps in dirty puddles left by disarranged pipes. Crane can feel her body become limper as she falls into a deeper sleep in his arms; gravity seems to have a grudge as his arms begin to become weary.

He enters a tall, misshaped building and climbs the creaking stairs to the top floor and to his small apartment, he knocks the code with some difficulty and movement of limbs and his top henchman opens the door. His face starts as a tight smile into a frown as he notices Seraphine in Crane's arms; Crane pushes past him and enters the bedroom, thankful the door is already open. He pushes the door with a foot to make space for Seraphine then edges himself to the bed; he gently lets Seraphine slide off his arms and onto the bed, the springs creak under the pressure. He leaves her sprawled out on the bed with no blanket to cover her cold form; he closes the door carefully and heads straight to the disorganized kitchen. His henchman stares at Crane as he gulps down a glass of water, he gasps was the glass leaves his lips and goes to refill it, he sees the henchman's large eyes watching him and scoffs.

'You try carrying a child for twenty blocks and see how thirsty you are.'

'It's not that boss, its why the hell do ya have a kid with ya?' Crane demolishes another glass of water before he speaks again; he turns the glass in the dim light as he speaks with a normal tone.

'That is a long and exhausting story which I will tell you another time, now, I need you to go out and get some clothing for the child. I suggest a size thirteen, as she is tall for her age and preferably something yellow as it seems to be her favourite colour, be no longer than an hour and grab some children's books while you're out as I think she'll be staying here for quite some time. The henchman nods vigorously than stomps out of the apartment, slamming the door making Crane cringe, he stumbles to the bedroom door and opens it a crack to see inside the peeling bedroom.

Seraphine is still fast asleep but rolled onto her side from the slammed door, she crawls into a ball and shakes from the bitterness of the late night's cold, Crane pulls a brown blanket from under the bed and drapes it over her body. She grabs the ends of the blanket with gripping fingers and pulls it closer to her face, hiding her mouth from the world. He removes her glasses gently and places them on a mite bitten table, he grapples a chair that had once stood in the corner of the room and places it by the bed, he sits down gently and watches Seraphine sleep. The blanket rises and falls in the rhythm of her slow breathing, a hand rubs against the small stubbles on his chin as he watches her hands coil and uncoil the blanket.

Knowing she had been with his, _their_ father was making him slightly envious, he had never even met him while she had spoken and interacted with him like the way he never did. She was…beautiful he had to admit, nothing like he had expected if he had had any siblings, the thought of siblings had never crossed his mind yet here she was sleeping in front of him. Crane sighed at his weakness, he couldn't be weak, his henchmen and clients would mock him alike and Seraphine would be the main target for his enemies. She had mentioned that his,_ their_ father was dead, she had grown up in the Narrows alone for all this time and he was never that far from her… or _him_.

'This has been the most unexpected discovery in my career, Seraphine Crane, you are the unexpected child.' Crane whispers as not to wake his sister, he leans back in his throne and soon enough his tiredness over comes his senses and he is asleep as well. The unexpected can and will happen when you least suspect it, it can be joyous or tragedy but overall… it can leave even the most brilliant minds speechless.

**So little one-shot that MIGHT turn into a proper story but only after i've finishes the ones i'm doing at the moment, bye for now! Please review.**


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